


Familiar Tails and Gems

by AmateurScribes



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Gen, Shapeshifter Grif, Shapeshifting, Witch Locus, Witchcraft, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:15:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24341911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmateurScribes/pseuds/AmateurScribes
Summary: If anyone had told Locus that he'd go from being a once powerful and feared witch to a recluse in a cabin performing acts for humans he would not have believed them.If they told him that he would be constantly bothered by one of the idiots he had fought against, now that would be slightly more believable.
Relationships: Dexter Grif & Locus | Samuel Ortez
Comments: 4
Kudos: 23





	Familiar Tails and Gems

**Author's Note:**

> A short fic for you guys! I'm gonna get back to working on Death Game soon but I wanted to squeeze this in while I could, plus I'm working on another one-shot so you guys got tons of reading to enjoy in these next few weeks!
> 
> All edited by me love and considering my brain started to confused which fandom I was writing this for, no doubt this probably has a few mistakes. In any case I hope you all enjoy!

Setting his pot on the top of the open flame, Locus relaxed as much as he could with the open silence of his cabin.

Scanning his spices and herbs, he got the ingredients needed for restocking his poisons. Ever since he started taking up more bounties for the local village he has needed to constantly brew more potions and poisons.

It has been a very long time since he has a moment of quie-

Scratching at his door has one of his hands gripping the table and the other pinching the bridge of his nose.

_ Fuck. _

For a brief moment he considered the benefits of ignoring the menace, but if he didn't answer soon he really did risk the paint getting clawed off of his door.

It is with great reluctance that he gets up and answers the door, already looking down to glare at the smug, orange Maine coon.

As soon as he gave the pest an opening it darted in, weaving around his legs to settle in the middle of the room.

It's only a moment too late when he notices what's in the  _ mouth _ of the cat.

"No," he growled out, closing the door sharply hoping the sound of it would spook it. "You are  _ not _ bringing a mouse into my cabin."

The cat glared at him, holding the small white mouse softly in its teeth.

"I can't handle you when you're like this," Locus rolled his eyes and turned away from the annoyance to get back to work. "Either turn back to normal and  _ explain _ yourself or leave."

The cat jumped up onto his table, glowing brightly shifting back into the blight upon Locus' isolated life currently- one Dexter Grif.

"You know, when a cat brings its owner a mouse, it's usually looking for praise," Grif pointed out, the docile mouse being cradled in his hands, his pointer finger running softly against its tiny head, being mindful of his claws.

"I am not your owner, you are not my familiar," Locus pointed out first. "Do not bring me mice- or birds. Rather, do not visit at all or I will ward the house and the perimeter itself."

"Come on, bud! You know you'd be lonely if I didn't come to visit," Grif lazily kicked his legs back and forth. "You should interact more with the rest of us! Well, you'd probably have to apologize and all for trying to kill us, but after that, they should warm right up to you."

"You are aware that I attempted to stage a genocidal war against the two faerie colonies, something that the more intelligent of your compatriots surely are more mindful of," Locus started to ground up a few leaves into a powder. He pressed more firmly than he should have when his mind started to wander back in the territory where memories of his former fellow witch resided.

"Well yeah, but that's all in the past! Just, perhaps don't go anywhere near Kimball's territory," Grif blew out air. "I heard you started to do work for the human settlement."

"Correct," he stated, not wanting to give away any more information on that.

"I mean, I already knew you had a hard-on for the Freelancers enough to want to imitate them, but what happens if they found out you're more than human?" Grif quirked an eyebrow at him. 

Pausing in his mixing, Locus snapped, "They won't."

"Of course not," Grif frowned at him, opting to just pet his mouse instead.

"What other reason did you come here for if not to just bother me," Locus demanded. "And why a  _ mouse _ of all things?"

Brightening at the change in subject, Grif showed off the mouse and exclaimed, "Right, she's why I came here! Her name is Huggins!" 

The mouse squeaked up at him, and he just stared down at it.

"You came here," he paused, trying to wrap around his head around the statement. "To show off your pet."

Grif gasped in mock offense, placing his hand against his chest, to admonish him with, "Huggins is  _ not _ my pet, she's my friend!"

Locus didn't say anything in response, and neither did Grif. Which led to them just staring at each for about a minute.

Grif's eyes darted to the side, slit pupils dilating a tad as he admitted, "And I wanted to know if you could charm her to speak."

"No," he said immediately, getting back to work.

"Oh come on," the other man whined. "I'll even pay you whatever you want! I can understand her just fine when I shift but it's as soon as I'm back to normal base it's all just squeaks!"

"Because it is a wild animal," Locus stated. "Which you should release,  _ not anywhere near here, _ but back where you found it."

"Oh but we bonded already, I can't just say bye," Grif cradled the small mouse against his chest. "Look, I'll even leave you alone for a whole  _ month _ if you do this for me."

Sighing, Locus turned back towards him, "Why do you want this so much?"

"Simmons won't let me bring her into the castle unless she's some form of magic," Grif scowled. "I love the pasty bastard to death, but he's a grouch about keeping the castle clean and shit. He's literally a vampire, mice should be a part of the aesthetic."

Silence, then, "And you'd leave me alone. For a whole month?"

"For a whole month," Grif nodded his head rapidly.

Contemplating what it would take to cast the charm, the witch nodded and told the shifter, "Come back in a few days and the charm will be ready."

"Yes," Grif fist pumped. "I'll just hang with Tucker by the river until it's done, Simmons can go a few days without me."

Wasting no time, Grif waved goodbye to him and ran out of his cabin, shifting back into cat form, his mouse settled on top of his head.

With the opportunity presented, Locus wasted no time in getting the charm in order- just the prospect of having a whole month without any bothersome visits was well worth the price of casting it.

Just as he said, Grif was back at his cabin three days later, ready for his mouse companion to have a voice.

"And you're not gonna like- give her a weird voice right," Grif scowled as he watched Locus eased his mouse into a small bowl of mixed herbs and petals. "Because if I'm stuck with a voice more annoying than O'Malley's I'm gonna be pissed."

"Unfortunate," Locus quipped, continuing with soaking the mouse in the light potion. Picking up a blue lace agate, he muttered under his breath the charm- so that Grif couldn't repeat the verse- and tapped the gem against her head.

The mouse's eyes glowed blue alongside the water, and after a few seconds the light receded.

Climbing out of the bowl, the mouse approached Grif, who crouched down, asking, "Did it work?"

"Did what work," the mouse squeaked.

Grif scooped up Huggins and beamed, "Your voice is so cute! Oh man, Simmons is gonna love this!" 

Picking the bowl off the ground, Locus placed back his crystal, unprepared for the man to barrel into him in a hug, wrapping his arms around the witch. In his shock, the bowl was jostled and some of the potion slipped out onto the wooden panels.

"Thanks, Locus," Grif warmly muttered. He let go of the other man before it got weirder than it already was, and coughed into his hand, Locus looking up to see that Huggins was nestled on top of the crown of Grif's head. "Well, you definitely earned your month without me bothering you. I'll be seeing you."

Not wanting to broach onto Locus' personal time, Grif hurried out of the cabin chatting a mile a minute with Huggins- who know that she had a voice outside of squeaks, matched his pace much better than anyone else could.

Glad for them to be gone, Locus cleaned up and relished in being able to have ensured peace and quiet. 

And in the following month he took on far more jobs from the humans than he had before, suddenly needing to fill the space with  _ productivity. _ But even he knew that something was missing, he just didn't know what.

For a moment he thought that perhaps he was missing his former partner, but he didn't and he was left was residual resentment and bitterness in his mouth from days.

One commission from a human with a sick daughter had him gathering rosebuds nearby where he had rescued Agent Washington and Agent Carolina from becoming victims of that gorgon Temple. But the statues of former Freelancers who had perished unnerved him, and he hurried back to his cabin as soon as he had secured the rare buds.

A month in, and he was begrudgingly ready to admit that  _ perhaps _ he missed the company. Solitude was his friend, but loneliness was not.

And perhaps, even after a month had passed, Grif wouldn't bother to visit anyhow, having gotten his use out of Locus now ready to discard him.

Or perhaps he would finally realize that even a  _ mouse _ would make much better company than him.

But it was on the first day of exactly one month after the deal was made that he heard a distinctive scratching at his door.

His head perked up in surprise, but outwardly he didn't show off anything but indifference when he opened the door and a familiar form let himself in.

Shifting back to normal, Grif gave him a cheeky grin, Huggins perched on his shoulder, saying right off the bat, "Oh man, do I have tea to spill with you. You'll never believe what Tucker's taken to calling me and Simmons- can you believe that he has the audacity to call us the  _ biting kink _ couple? He does  _ not _ want me to start pulling out receipts on the shit he's into, I-"

Grif trailed off, noticing that Locus hadn't said a word yet, smugness bleeding off his face for something more sincere, "What's with that look, you miss me or something?"

"Or something," Locus responded, closing the door.

**Author's Note:**

> Tucker is a freshwater mermaid, does this mean I qualify for Mermay still? Anyhow, this was inspired by my good friend Squash and a whole group chat that I'm in on Instagram who made a [felted cat Grif](https://www.instagram.com/p/CAHFehKJJw7/) and mentioned a mouse Huggins. It was too cute to not do something with it.
> 
> If you have any questions, you can find me at either of my Tumblr's: @agent-murica (main) and @amateurscribes (writing)!


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